Oak Ridge Today

TDOT: Lewallen Bridge in Clinton slated for replacement

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Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge

Pictured above is the Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on Clinch Avenue near downtown Clinton.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will be replacing the Lewallen Bridge—known as “the green bridge” to locals—that connects Clinton and South Clinton on Highway 25W within the next couple of years.

Clinton city officials met last Friday with TDOT representatives to learn more about the project and its tentative schedule. TDOT spokesman Mark Nagi in an email said that the new bridge will be realigned to the park side of the bridge, which is upstream from the current bridge, so that the state can avoid “the costly acquisition of several homes” downstream of the bridge in the other side. [Read more…]

TDOT employee resigns after crash, DUI arrest in Oak Ridge

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A Tennessee Department of Transportation employee who worked in Oak Ridge resigned Thursday after he was charged with driving under the influence following a police investigation of a crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Louisiana Avenue on Friday, Feb. 1, officials said.

Police said William Hays Halbert, 56, of Knoxville, had been driving a state-owned 2010 Ford F150 pickup truck, but he had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Halbert smelled like alcohol and appeared to be confused, and he had a hard time following directions, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Garrett L. Robbins wrote in the affidavit.

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Construction work starts on Centrifuge Way interchange

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Centrifuge Way Interchange Improvements

Construction work has started on a $1 million state project to improve the interchange at South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in Oak Ridge.

Construction work has started on a $1.2 million state project to improve the interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue, or State Route 62.

The work started Nov. 14 and could be complete by June 15, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman.

The work is being done by J&M Grading Division LLC of Friendsville under a $1.165 million contract, Nagi said.

The work includes building three detention ponds that will be used as sediment basins during construction, reconfiguring the interchange, and extending Centrifuge Way, which was formerly known as Boeing Road.

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